1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates electric or electronic animal traps, and relates more particularly to an animal trap of the inclined plane type adapted to catch and electrocute a targeted animal.
Although the concepts of the instant invention are equally applicable to traps for animals of any size, devices of this type are primarily utilized in connection with the trapping of rodents such as mice and rats and, therefore, further discussion herein will be primarily directed to this application.
2. The Prior Art
Inclined plane animal traps have been available for over one hundred years. The commercial embodiments of such traps currently available commonly comprise a housing defining an enlarged enclosure with one, or perhaps two, inclined plane trap assemblies communicating the interior of the enclosure with the exterior of the housing via an elongated passageway. An inclined plane tilting floor member is positioned in the passageway of each trap assembly and is adapted to lift a door to block an entrance opening when the rodent passes beyond a pivot point thereby limiting escape from the enclosure. When the rodent exits the passageway into the enclosure the door falls by gravity on the entrance end of the tilting floor to reset the trap and the raised end of the tilting floor limits the ability of a captured rodent to return to the passageway.
Captured rodents will attempt to escape in any way possible. Rodents in the enclosure will try to grasp the inner end of the tilting floor to regain access to the passageway. In some instances, rodents on the tilting floor have been able to grasp the side of top edges of the door with their claws or teeth to pull the door down against their own weight, and thereby escape from the trap.
Attempts have been made to limit access to the tilting floor and the door by incorporation of various flanges or lips on the trap assembly walls or roof, but such efforts have had limited success. Since the principle purpose of an animal trap is to capture and retain the targeted animals for subsequent disposition by an exterminator or the like, the effectiveness of a trap that permits escape of a captured animal is greatly diminished and a construction that is, for all intents and purposes, escape-proof, would have significant commercial appeal.
Another problem associated with animal traps is the tendency of a captured rodent to crawl under, or nest in the space between the bottom wall of the trap housing and the undersurface of the raised end of the tilting floor when the trap assembly has been reset. The presence of an animal in this location prevents another rodent attempting to enter the trap assembly from tilting the floor and, thereby, being captured. Provision of a member to preclude an animal from entering or nesting in this space would be an obviously desirable feature of an animal trap.
It is well known tendency of mice and rats to stay close to walls in a room, rather than running into the open. If a rodent trap is set against a wall with the entrance opening juxtaposed to the wall, the aroma of bait in the housing will generally attract the animal into the trap. However, some rodents will pass by the entrance opening and, thereby, avoid being caught.
Since some animal traps are generally intended for multiple uses, they have been commonly made of sheet metal, such as aluminum sheet or the like, for durability. While some traps made of plastic have been marketed, the ability to produce an animal trap which is virtually escape-proof, with the major components being formed of plastic, would significantly reduce manufacturing costs and enhance versatility.
The trap of the application Ser. No. 09/729,832 filed Dec. 6, 2000, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, has been designed to overcome the defects in most prior art inclined plane animal traps and provides an escape-proof repeating animal trap with many advantages.
There have also been attempts to develop animal traps including electric or electronic components to kill a trapped animal. These traps, so far, have very complicated structures which are costly to manufacture. Additionally, these traps are not conveniently employed without disruption of the animal""s environment nor are they able to control the voltage to the trap. Some are designed, to provide continuous power which is not cost effective and others can not keep the animal in the trap, because the animal can grasp the top of a side edge of the trap door and scratch or chew its way out.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,091 to Johnson et al, a flexible plate is charged with a base plate. When the pest enters the trap, the pest presses the flexible plate into contact with the base plate. This contact completes the circuit and a high voltage is applied to the pest. The problem with this type of device is that voltage only occurs when the pest makes contact with the flexible plate. When the pest initially is shocked it will move and not receive enough of a shock to exterminate it. The trap door is non-existing and the pest can readily escape, thus defeating the purpose of the trap.
In an attempt to solve the previously noted electrical problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,636 to Johnson et al discloses a portable pest electrocution device with a resistive switch trigger. The device has a resistive switch to sense the presence of a pest between two electrodes. One of the electrodes is set at a high voltage and the other is set to ground. The ground electrode is a separate stake shaped electrode which is placed physically in the ground. When the pest enters the trap, contact is made, and a timer begins for a set period of time. After timing out, the timer deactivates the power to the electrodes. A problem with this device is that a separate ground stake is necessary. It is costly and cumbersome. If the user forgets or misplaces the separate ground stake, the device does not work correctly and thus will be useless.
While the noted prior art patents show electronic members in a trap, none of the patents disclose a combination of an electronic circuit fixed in a trap with a teeter-totter mechanism to securely close the trap door, and thus readily exterminating the pest by electrocution.
Previous electric mouse killing traps had deficiencies regarding the safety features and the reliability of the device. The device of the present invention has a door which closes mechanically as the circuit completes thus reducing the chances that children, pests or non target species can inadvertently fire the trap and potentially cause harm to themselves. The door also creates a situation where there is only one possible outcome once the mouse enters the trap. The mouse can not back out of the trap. Therefore, it will complete the circuit resulting in the death of the animal.
It is an object of the invention to provide a unique electric animal trap incorporating features that render the same essentially escape-proof because, for all practical purposes, once the animal steps into the trap, the inclined plane will tip and the animal will be electrocuted. However, if desired, elements may be provided to preclude a captured animal on the tilting floor from grasping the top or side edges of the trap door to prevent the animal from unblocking the entrance opening.
It is another object of the invention to provide an electric or electronic animal trap including a housing with a bottom wall, upstanding peripheral walls, and a cover, together defining an enclosure for holding at least one targeted animal with contacts on portions of the peripheral walls and cover adapted to open or xe2x80x9cbreakxe2x80x9d the circuitry when the cover is lifted thereby avoiding accidental injury to a person contacting the electrodes when accessing the enclosure to add bait or to remove electrocuted animals.
It is an object of the invention to provide movable portions of the housing between a closed position in which the captured animal is retained within the enclosure, and an opened position in which access is provided to the enclosure to remove electrocuted animals therefrom.
It is a further object of the invention to provide at least one inclined plane trap assembly including sides defining an elongated passageway, an entrance opening at one end of the passageway communicating with the exterior of the housing through an aperture in one of the peripheral walls of the housing, and a back wall at the other end of the of the passageway.
Another object of the invention is to provide a floor member extending along the passageway intermediate the sides, the floor member having a first end portion juxtaposed to the entrance opening and an opposite second end portion juxtaposed to the back wall.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pivot element underlying and supporting the floor member intermediate its end portions for tilting movement of the floor member between a first position in which the first end portion is lowered and the second end portion is raised, and a second position in which the first end portion is raised and the second end portion is lowered.
A still further object of the invention to provide a door member having bottom edge portions and a top edge, a hinge element secured to the bottom edge portions of the door member adjacent to the entrance opening for pivotal movement of the door member between a lowered position in which the door member rests on the first end portion of the floor member when the floor member is in its first position to provide access to the passageway by a targeted animal through the entrance opening.
It is a further object of the invention to provide the door member in a raised position that is lifted by movement of the first end portion of the floor member when the floor member is moved from its first position to its second position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide the door member, in its raised position, for blocking the return to the entrance opening by the animal on the floor member.
It is a further object of the invention to provide, the door member being biased toward its lowered position, the weight of the door member on the first end portion of the floor member when the door member is in its lowered position maintaining the floor member in its first position, and the weight of an animal on the floor member tilting the floor member to its second position when the animal passes from the entrances opening beyond the pivot element to thereby lift the door member to its raised position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a power supply for providing power to the trap.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bottom plate positioned near the back wall and extending parallel to the bottom wall with a portion of the bottom plate being in contact with the floor member when the floor member is moved from its first position to its second position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a circuit member electrically connected to the power supply for converting said power to electricity.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for a floor electrical connection member to receive the electricity from the circuit member and connecting to the floor member to provide electricity to the floor member.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for the bottom electrical connection member to receive the electricity from the circuit member and connecting to the bottom plate to provide electricity to the bottom plate and the weight of the animal on the floor member tilting the floor member to its second position when the animal passes from the entrance opening beyond the pivot element to thereby lift the door member to its raised position to eliminate an exit of the animal from the trap.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for the bottom plate to electrically contact the floor member to cause the electricity to flow through the bottom plate and the floor member to electrocute the animal in contact with the floor member.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for the top edge of the door member to engage the undersurface of the roof when the door member reaches a vertical orientation whereby the weight of the door member biases the door member about the hinge element towards the lowered position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rectangular housing with the peripheral walls of the housing including a pair of opposed, parallel side walls and a pair of opposed parallel end walls, one aperture in one of said end walls and a trap assembly inside the housing, the trap assembly having an entrance opening communicating with the aperture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for portions of the cover of the housing to define the roof of the trap assembly passageway, a circuit area and a power supply area.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for portions of the peripheral walls of the housing to define the sides of the trap assembly passageway.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for portions of the peripheral walls of the housing to define one of the sides of the trap assembly circuit area.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for portions of the peripheral walls of the housing to define one of the sides of the trap assembly power supply area.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a housing formed of plastic.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a power supply comprising at least one battery.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bottom plate formed of galvanized steel.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a floor electrical connection member comprising an insulated wire soldered to form an electrical connection.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bottom electrical connection member is an insulated wire soldered to form an electrical connection.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.